Facilities and infrastructure

Over the past ten years we have significantly upgraded our laboratory and plant growth facilities for an increasingly integrated research programme. From 2007, the new Environment Centre for Wales will be the focus for environmental research at Bangor.

The Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation (CEBC) was established in 2003 with the goal of supporting decision making in conservation and environmental management. CEBC promotes evidence-based practice through the production and dissemination of systematic reviews on both the effectiveness of management and policy interventions and on the impact of human activities on the natural environment.

In 2004 a major investment in research facilities at our Henfaes Research Centre was completed with the launch of MENTERRA, a new centre for agricultural innovation, conducting research into alternative crop and livestock species. This was followed by the establishment in 2005 of the Wales Centre for Alternative Land Use (CALU). Henfaes is also the location of the UK's largest Free-Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) experimental facility, which is used to research impacts of increased carbon dioxide concentrations on forest ecosystem function.

Infrastructure at the Henfaes Research Centre includes:

growth rooms, glasshouses
16 solardomes (managed by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
long-term pasture, crop, agroforestry, forestry and soil science experimental plots in over 40 ha

The Centre for Hill and Upland Management comprises 186 ha of mixed grassland, ancient semi-natural woodland and conifer plantations, and is used for a range of projects.

Analytical facilities

Laboratory facilities for plant and environmental science include:

water and soil chemistry nutrient analysers
ABI Prism real-time PCR machine and associated molecular kit
HPLC with multiple detectors
GC-MS
capillary electrophoresis facility
three multichannel soil gas analysers
gas sorption analyser and mercury porosimeter
isotope tracking facilities
human pathogen handling facilities

We have a full suite of analytical equipment for plant-derived materials, specifically optimised for extraction, testing and utilisation of renewable industrial feedstocks, a facility unique in the UK. This includes:

fully equipped materials testing lab with two universal testing machines in climate controlled environment
half-fringe photoelastometer with image processing to determine stress distributions in plant-fibre reinforced composites (PFRC) - a unique application of this technique
mercury porosimeter, single fibre rheology, impact tester, dynamic vapour sorption analyser
mycology lab and conditioning chambers for study of biological decay resistance in modified PFRC

Additional equipment relating to wood processing and production of plant fibre-based composites is available in the BioComposites Centre. Staff also have access to a range of new equipment for plant and environmental science research in the School of Biological Sciences and Department of Chemistry. These include facilities for genomics, proteomics and metabolomics, microscopy and imaging, cell probes and a botanic garden.

Long-term experiment sites

SENRGY has a number of sites which are monitored on a long-term basis and provide opportunities for research and project work. Click here for more information.